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CHAPTER 6: ALERTS
Objectives
The objectives are: Define Microsoft Dynamics AX. Set up alerts. Create alert rules. Create alert rule templates. Receive alerts and show the flow of events when alerts are triggered. Explain why alerts are not sent.
Introduction
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 provides the capability for users to stay informed on the condition of their business by using alerts. Users can set their own alerts for almost any condition that might occur within their business. For example, users can set up alerts to do the following: Notify when a payment on a purchase order is due and payment has not been recorded Show when sales targets have changed Show when delivery dates change Inform the user that a customer address has changed Notify that a sales order was deleted Notify when a production order due date was reached and the order is not reported as finished
The alerts functionality is designed so that alert rules can be set up in all modules of Microsoft Dynamics AX. They can be set on any table field or for any specific event, and this provides lots of flexibility for users to creatively keep themselves informed on the operations of their business.
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Scenario
A company wants to make sure that the appropriate personnel are informed when certain business conditions exist. To do this the company has decided to implement the Alerts feature in Microsoft Dynamics AX. The technical staff of the company handles the general setup of alerts for all users of the company. Then end-users must be educated on how to set up alert rules in forms that they use.
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Chapter 6: Alerts
Define an HTML or XSL template that merges alert data into an email message at runtime Set up scheduled batch processes to detect date-driven events and to process events that are derived from changes in the database
Detection of changes in the database is based on the Database Log technology. Alerts benefit customers by making it simpler to keep track of key data in Microsoft Dynamics AX to help them perform their jobs more efficiently. Alerts benefit partners by enabling them to construct new alert rule templates and import them to customer systems. Partners can also develop new event types and new actions to be performed when an alert is sent. Additionally, partners can add and expose new database fields on a form. The fields must be maintained so that users can create alert rules on those fields by using the Create Alert Rule form.
Event (Alert Me When) The event may be a date that is reached or a specific change that occurs. Events are predefined, and the events that are available for a field depend on the field selected. For example, if the field where one would want to set up an alert rule is Start date, the event type Is due in is available, but for a field like Cost center, the event type Due date is unavailable. However, for Cost center, an event like Has changed is available. There are three kinds of event alerts: Due date events: Triggers an alert when a date is met. Update events: Triggers an alert when data in a particular field changes. Create and delete events: Triggers an alert when a record is created or deleted.
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Chapter 6: Alerts
Set Up Alerts
For users to create their own alert rules administrators must first complete some preparatory setup tasks. These include the following: Set security keys Set up alert batch Create e-mail alerts o o o o o o o o o Create e-mail templates (can be language dependent) Connect template IDs with an alert Make sure that users have a valid e-mail address in the User option form For e-mail alerts, set up a retry schedule for sending e-mail Set up connections to the SMTP server Define limits for attachments to e-mail messages Define the location of safe folders where bitmaps that are to be included with e-mail messages are stored Set up drill down capabilities in e-mail templates. This includes merge fields Set up navigation target. This is used in the drill down link from an alert e-mail in the attempt to reach the correct database where the alert is stored (relevant if users can connect to more than one Microsoft Dynamics AX installation) Set up preferences in the E-Mail parameters form Set up e-mail batch
o o
Some of these tasks are explained more in this lesson. More information about other tasks can be obtained from the Microsoft Dynamics AX Help or from technical training courses.
Security Keys
Administrators must grant users appropriate permissions and table access for users to do the following: Manage their alerts Create their alert rules View their alerts Drill down to business data
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For specific information about the security keys that must be enabled to run these tasks, view the technical help topic Set Up Security Keys for Alerts.
Batch processes can be set up for each of these kinds of events. Process Batches for Change-Based Events Microsoft Dynamics AX reads all change-based events (field updates, records deleted, or records created) that have occurred after batch processing was performed the last time, and these events are matched with the conditions set up in alert rules. The batch process generates an alert when an event matches the rule conditions.
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Chapter 6: Alerts
The larger the number of users who create alert rules, the more relevant these considerations are. That is, the number of events to be processed does not change with the frequency. However, the more users who create rules, the more checks have to be performed. This kind of data exchange can affect system performance.
NOTE: The time that passes before users receive their alerts is also controlled by the time interval by which Microsoft Dynamics AX polls for new alerts. The time interval must be set in minutes. The minimum value is 1 and the maximum value is 1440 minutes (one day).
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Chapter 6: Alerts
From this example, it seems that if the batch-processing window interval is set to 10, there can be a period of at the most 10 days when the batch does not run. The batch has to run at the latest the tenth day to make sure that the alert is generated. If the batch processing window is set to 0, an alert is run only if the batch runs two days after the birthday. In this case, the batch has to run every day not to lose any alerts.
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Users can set the following options: Frequency of receiving alerts Pop-up link destination When alerts are sent as e-mail messages, pop-up windows, or both
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Chapter 6: Alerts
Access is Required
New or modified alert rules are only accepted if users have access to all tables and fields that are required to use the rules. For example, suppose that a user creates a rule on a table. With the user's current security permissions the user can create this rule. Later, the user's security permissions are limited to the effect that the user cannot access the table. In this situation the rule will remain visible in the Manage alert rule form, but no alerts will be generated and sent to the user based on this rule. The same situation will occur if a rule is set up on a table and there is a reference to another table in the rule's filter. If the user loses permissions to the referenced table the user's alert rule will be obsolete and no alerts will be generated from this rule. When a rule is created that has a filter in an Inquiry form, the rule's owner will have the same rights and the same limitations as the user ordinarily does when they use the Inquiry feature where all tables in the list have either a one-to-many or many to one relationship with the first table.
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FIGURE 6.2 CREATE ALERT RULE FORM WITH ALL FIELDS EXPANDED
4. To monitor only a specific field in the form, select the desired field for the alert rule in the Field field. 5. Select the event type inside the Event field. 6. Make the desired selection in the Alert me for area of the form. 7. To monitor a specific set of records, click Select to open a Query form to define a filter for the records that are to be monitored for the alert. 8. Click End date to put an expiration date on the alert. Clicking End date enables the adjacent field where the end date is entered. If no end date is desired, leave the default No end date selected. 9. Enter text in the Subject field for the title of the alert message. 10. Enter text in the Message field for informational text that accompanies the alert message.
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Chapter 6: Alerts
11. Administrators of alert rules can designate the employee to be notified by making the appropriate selection in the User ID field. Appropriate security keys are required for this action. 12. Click the Show pop-ups check box to display a pop-up for the alert. 13. Click OK to save the alert rule. Click Cancel to discard the alert rule.
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Receive Alerts
Use the View alerts form to view the received alerts. An icon appears in the status bar when there are unread alerts. Click the icon to open the View alerts form. To make sure that users do not overlook any alerts, they can also be delivered as pop-up messages or as e-mail alerts. Pop Up Messages Pop-up messages appear at the bottom of the desktop area when the Microsoft Dynamics AX application is open. The option to receive alerts as pop-up messages are set up in the Options form. From the pop-up message, the user can either view the alert listed in the View alerts form or drill down to the origin of the alert to view the context in which the alert was triggered. An e-mail alert is triggered in Microsoft Dynamics AX and sent out as an e-mail message. If alerts delivered are delivered by e-mail, alerts about events can reach users even when they are not working in Microsoft Dynamics AX.
NOTE: E-mail alerts cannot be created or sent manually, they must be processed through the Microsoft Dynamics AX e-mail system.
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Chapter 6: Alerts
Flow of Alerts
A general series of events occur when certain conditions exist within Microsoft Dynamics AX that trigger an alert. Alert is Triggered When the polling mechanism in Microsoft Dynamics AX detects that an alert is triggered when the alert rule owner is logged in, a pop-up is displayed immediately and the unread alerts count in the status bar is updated. The pop-up contains information about the following: Company name, if more than one company is registered in Microsoft Dynamics AX Alert subject as defined in the Create alert rule form The form header information from the form where the alert is generated Any message defined by the user
Users have options with regard to the pop-up: Users can dismiss the pop-up if they want to If the user does not interact with the pop-up, it automatically closes Users can obtain details about the alert directly from the pop-up by clicking the link in the pop-up
When users start Microsoft Dynamics AX, the pop-up is not displayed for alerts that were generated when the user had Microsoft Dynamics AX shut down. An indicator displays the number of new alerts and is updated immediately when new alerts occur. This indicator also displays the number of unread alerts. This includes those generated when the user had their client application shut down. Users can open the Notification list form from the alert icon that is displayed when an alert is generated. Notification List Form Basic > Setup > Alerts > Manage alert rules > Notification list button The Notification list form presents all alerts in an overview style. For each alert, the following information is visible: Unread/Read status Alert subject name The form /table label, where the alert was created from
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The default sort order for the alerts is date/time. However the alerts can be sorted by the columns in the grid. The following capabilities are provided to the user in the Notification list: Click Alert origin to drill down to the record caption level where the event occurred. Select an alert and then click Manage alert rules to view the corresponding alert rule in the Manage alert rules form. Click Change status to change the status between read/unread. Select an alert and view detailed alert information on the General tab. Delete alerts from the form: select and alert and then click the Delete button in the toolbar.
If the user tries to view an alert rule that was deleted after the alert was raised Microsoft Dynamics AX informs the user that the rule was deleted. However, the user will not be informed if the rule was modified after the alert was raised. When a user decides to drill down into the alert the user is directed to the best available context in Microsoft Dynamics AX from where the alert rule was created.
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Chapter 6: Alerts
The user is directed to the inserted/updated record or the due date record according to these rules: The user will be directed to the form and the selected event field, where the alert rule was created If the user cannot do that, the user is directed to the default form reference and selected event field for the table in which the rule was created If the user cannot do that, the system informs the user that the form cannot be opened by drill down and informs the user about the form name in which the alert rule was created. If the record no longer exists a message informs the user that the field/record was deleted and is not available. If the record was updated after the alert was created, the user is directed to the updated record. If the user permissions no longer let the user be directed to a specific form or table, the user is denied access to the form or table and receives a notification that access is denied. To be able to drill down from an e-mail alert, the e-mail template must be set up to accept the link to the appropriate form and field generated by the system. For the link to work the user must also be logged in to Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Unsent Alerts
Sometimes alerts are not sent to users, even though they may be expected. The following information poses some scenarios where alerts may not be sent even though users expect them to be generated.
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Chapter 6: Alerts
Summary
Alerts are used in the Microsoft Dynamics AX system to inform users when conditions exist in the system. Generally alerts fall into two categories: Event alerts Due date alerts
Alerts can notify users in several ways: Pop-up forms in the application E-mail Alerts in Enterprise Portal
Alerts can be set up for all modules in the system. This makes them a method to keep users informed of most business situations.
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2. Generally, where in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 application are the alert rules defined?
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Chapter 6: Alerts
4. The Notification list form presents all alerts in an overview style. List at least three pieces of information that given for each alert.
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Challenge Yourself!
Open the Create alert rule form from the appropriate form. Select the Alert me when the Status is set to Released.
Step by Step
1. Follow the path Production > Production orders to open the Production order form. 2. Right-click anywhere in the body of the Production order form and select Create alert rule. 3. In the Field field select Status from the drop-down list. 4. In the Event field select has changed from the drop-down list. 5. In the second Event field select Released from the drop-down list. 6. Expand the Alert who field group. 7. In the User ID field select Admin. 8. Expand the Also alert me by field group. 9. Select the Show pop-ups check box. 10. Click OK.
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Chapter 6: Alerts
Challenge Yourself!
Open the Manage alert rules form. Create a company accounts template based on the newly created alert.
Step by Step
1. Follow the path Basic > Setup > Alerts > Manage alert rules to open the Manage alert rules form. 2. Right-click the newly created alert and select Record info to open the Record information form. 3. Click the Company accounts template button. 4. Enter a descriptive name in the Name field such as Production order released. 5. Enter some descriptive text in the Description field. 6. Click OK.
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Challenge Yourself!
Open the Manage alert rules form. Click Create alert rule to access the alert rule template. Create the new alert rule.
Step by Step
1. Follow the path Basic > Setup > Alerts > Manage alert rules to open the Manage alert rules form. 2. Click Create alert and select From template to open the Select a template for Alerts form. 3. Mark the check box next to the newly created company account template. 4. Click OK. 5. In the User ID field of the newly created alert, select Guest from the drop-down list. An infolog will be displayed that states that Guest does not have sufficient rights for this alert. 6. Click Close. The User ID will revert to Admin.
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Solutions
Test Your Knowledge
1. List three areas where an administrator may want to implement a system alert. MODEL ANSWER - - Notify when a payment on a purchase order is due and payment has not been recorded - Show when sales targets are changed Show when delivery dates change 2. Generally, where in the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 application are the alert rules defined? MODEL ANSWER - Users define the alert rules from the Microsoft Dynamics AX form that displays the data that is to be monitored. For a change of a sales target amount, the alert rule is defined in the Sales organization form where the targets for each period are displayed. 3. List three ways alerts can be monitored and received. MODEL ANSWER - - Pop-up messages - E-mail alerts - Using Enterprise Portal 4. The Notification list form presents all alerts in an overview style. List at least three pieces of information that given for each alert. MODEL ANSWER - Unread, whether the alert was read Subject, title of the alert. Company, the company the alert was created from
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